Total Eclipse of the Heart
by Ecki
Summary: #2 Alastair x Kumani. It started as a working relationship and then, maybe, it became more than that. ShadowrunxCyberpunk. Kumani is solely my creation and Alastair is the creation of Oni, with permission.


It's been three weeks since Kumani left the Beverly Hotel, the base of operations for the ragtag team of fortune hunters she's with. Inabas, their boss, had asked

her to go back to the home that she had left behind. Master Inabas asked her to do a private mission amongst the Dark Elves, her father's people. Bits of memories

from her childhood floods into her, even now. Kumani, absently stroked her pet chimera, a present to her from the master mage, Alastair Black, before she left on

her mission. The chimera cooed in response to Kumani's petting, rubbing one of its heads against her rather roughly. Kumani chuckled at the display of affection. "I

should really give you a name." she said to herself. "I can't call you Chimera forever." Kumani thought back to the day Alistair Black had asked her if she would like a

chimera. She remembers how the idea of having a chimera for a pet really piqued her interest. "All I need is a bit of your blood to bond the chimera to you when I

create him." the master mage had told her. So, one pin prick and a week later she was officially the owner of one chimera, who acted rather like a overgrown

puppy. " Lady Yuuki, " said a grandmotherly retainer as she shook Kumani out of her revelry. " Lady Yuuki, the Lord has requested your presence." Kumani turned

around to face the voice that has been in every corner of her childhood memories, the voice of her nanny, Mayuri. There was only one difference from the childhood

memories. She was no longer Ku-chan, but Lady Yuuki. She despised her childhood nickname of Ku, for she was always teased for being 'cool'. That's why she

always told people to address her by her last name, Yuuki. "Mayuri, it's not life and death, is it?" she asked the ancient nurse. Mayuri screwed her face up into a

formidable expression. Kumani threw her hands up and sighed, "Alright. Alright. I'll go." She obediently followed behind the nanny. "Since you left, your manners

have become atrocious, my Lady." Mayuri said to her former charge. They turned into the palatial estate which looked like a child's fantasy comes true. Large

houses built right into the gigantic trunks of the ancient forest and the rocks of the foothills nearby. As they hurried toward the central estate, the old

retainer and Kumani passed many bowing heads and she bowed back. At last, they approached the central chamber. It was fashioned from aspen magically

manipulated to form into a place to house the thirteenth lord of Galemist, fourth prince of the dark elven empire. For a moment, Kumani paused before the chamber

and was again awed at the beauty of the white aspen and the craftsmanship it took to form the chamber. Then, she hurriedly stepped in. An elf of great stature

stepped down from the grand chair that's reserved for her father, Lord Shunosuke Yuuki. Kumani greeted her father with the ceremonial greeting traditionally

reserved only for the House of Galemist. Her forms were so perfect that it still stuns Mayuri, because of Kumani's usual lack of decorum. "Father, how have you

been." Kumani greeted the elf. Lord Yuuki, is not very tall, perhaps just a few inches taller than Kumani herself. But, every gesture, every move shows the strength

of his disciplines. His white hair is still as glistening as ever with barely any lines around his eyes. "There is no need for the formalities." said the lord, as he keeps

his daughter from going into another long drawn out greeting. "If you really are going to go through the entire ceremonial greeting," the Lord said, with rare mirth.

"We'll miss dinner." Lord Yuuki turns to face the lushly covered steps that leads up to his great chair. "So, have you finished what you came back home for?" Kumani

blinked a couple of times and answered smoothly, "Almost, father." Lord Yuuki sighed, which startled Kumani. "What is it, father?" "Once you are done with what

you need to do, you'll be leaving." said Lord Yuuki, whose still youthful face belies hundreds of hundreds of years behind those eyes. It saddens Kumani, but her

resolve is strong as she replied, "I'm not here to stay, father. I have yet to finish what I need to do."

"It's been three weeks!" said Alastair as he paced in front of Master Inabas. "What could be taking her so long?" As the master mage runs his unusual boulder

size hands through his slightly unkept strawberry blond locks, Master Inabas watches from behind his desk without any emotion. If it was any other day, he would

have laughed upon seeing the way the master mage is pacing. But, that is not today. "She is on a private mission on my request." said Master Inabas. "She'll take

as long as she needs to finish." Alastair turned his mountainous body around completely with purple majesty, waving grains and fruited plains. The thunderous look

on the master mage's face would have bode ill for an average person complete with pain of death. Master Inabas sat in his seat unfazed. "We have another job to

do, and I need you to concentrate on that." "I need you to take Bolo and the others to the rendezvous point and check out something. There will be a very big

bonus out of this." Alastair collected himself, with all the igneous grace of his body. "Very well." said Alistair. "I guess judging from what you meant, I'm the leader of

the team this time." The master mage walked out of Master Inabas' office. "Alastair Black," called Master Inabas, "She'll be back. You just concentrate on doing this

job." Alastair kept on walking without acknowledging what Master Inabas had said. Alastair stomped over to the third floor that houses Bolo the gun-toting

mercenary, as he raised his hand to knock, he glimpse the door to Kumani's room. He walked into a room that was simply decorated yet still gives a sense of being

luxurious. He recalled the time Kumani dived from her own balcony into the swimming pool below to save Bob the cyborg and manage to lose her clothes, or the

time she got drunk on liquor that was too strong for her and had a bath naked in the hot tub full of jello, and then there was that party that had gone out of hand

which everyone was diving into the pool from the third story balconies. Everyone was drunk and partying too hard, except for Alastair, whom had a very decent

alcohol tolerance. That night, after she came up to the third floor with everyone, she had kissed him on the cheek before she went back to her room. He almost

gone after her, but knowing she was drunk, he didn't. Then, there was that time on the roof, when he kissed her on purpose. She responded with such enthusiasm

that he almost lost himself. Down, boy. He thought to himself while looking around the room, trying to absorb her smell, her essence. Just then, he spotted the scarf

she wore that night on the roof, sitting on top of her silk kimono pajama. He twist the scarf around his enormous fingers and breathed in the memory of that night.

He then shoved the scarf into one of the many pockets of his humongous trenchcoat and left the room to talk to Bolo about their next mission.

Kumani went about the tree house city that houses her people, her father's people. Everywhere and everything triggered just a little bit of memories that she had

lost from her amnesia. She remembers her human mother taking her about the city. Lady Jemilla Cheng Yuuki, was the epitome of grace in this hostile land where

humans are not welcome. Not after the veil had lifted. She remembered the poisoned whispers about her mother not worthy of being the Lady of Galemist and that

the young princess she bore for Lord Yuuki was an abomination. Not anymore, Kumani thought to herself. Her mother was been gone for nearly 50 years now.

Kumani Jai Yuuki, daughter of Lord Shunosuke Yuuki and Lady Jemilla Cheng Yuuki, is not a little grub anymore, but a young woman of 96 years. I left to find my own

people, she thought to herself, and I have found them. She searched in her pocket for her cell phone and called Master Inabas. "Master Inabas, this is Yuuki

reporting in." she said into the cellphone. "Yuuki, glad to hear from you." the voice of Inabas called out from the other end. "I hope the cell phone silence wasn't too

much for you." "Not at all, Master Inabas. It was necessary for this job." she quipped back in lighter tone than she felt. "So, the mission has been completed. Come

back in when you're ready." said the head honcho. " I will." said Kumani. Kumani heads back towards the grand aerie where the chimera was kept and brush the

beast until he purred, panted, and gurgled. "Time to go home, boy!" said Kumani to the beast. "Not without saying goodbye." a voice behind her said. She turned to

see her father in his royal finery putting on fierce airs. "Of course, not without saying goodbye." She said forgetting decorum and ceremony. Then she catches

herself "Father." Lord Yuuki wrapped his strong arms around his daughter. "Come back, whenever you want to. There is always a home here." Kumani hugged the

youthful ancient lord of Galemist goodbye. Then, she hitched up to the three headed beast and took off with an oomph!

In mid-flight towards the headquarter, Master Inabas called Kumani. " Yuuki, we have a situation, could you detour to the team's coordinates?" Kumani looked at

the coordinates being sent through to the GPS in her cell phone and took a roundabout turn with a nudge of the winged three headed beast. In no less than 15

minutes, Kumani and the chimera arrived to the scene of the battle and it was like watching Godzilla Taking Over Tokyo except she's in the story, too. The creature

the team was dealing with was classified as "demonic underling". Kumani thought to herself, "That was an understatement," as she took a look at the 15 foot tall

creature. She spotted the team in their hovercycles and helicopters nagging the creature with more firepower than it's legal for two governments to own. A flash of

red hair caught her attention, that must be Alastair in the helicoptor she thought to herself. She takes out her energy bow and her special homing arrows that

seeks out demonic energy. Then, she realized she needs to put on her talkie earpiece that connects her with the entire team. After all, this is California. You can't

talk and drive at the same time. She took out her earpiece and put it in her ear. "Hey, guys! What's the situation." she said into her earpiece as she shot a arrow

that was the equivalent of a large grenade into the demon. "Kumani, I mean Yuuki!" Alastair stammered in shock. "Welcome back to civilization." chimed in the

rest of the team. "Bob happy Yuu back." said the laconic cyborg with twitchy circuits. A large explosion in the abdominal region of the demon happened after

Kumani's arrow made contact. "Uh oh. I think I made the demon angry." said Kumani in a breathless excited manner. The demon started to move in the same

manner as an angry bull that was trapped in a china and crystal shop. At that moment, Susan, the cyber enhanced mage, put her hands together in a spellcasting

gesture, and nodded to Kumani. Kumani took out her flute and the played the tune Magic Harp. At first it was a bare whisper of a wind and the next moment,

Kumani had summoned a wind elemental to trap the demonic underling in a cyclone that restricted his movement. Then, Susan summoned a

thunderbolt straight out from the sky above the cyclone to strike at the demon. Alastair and the others took the chance to attack, while the distractions made by

Kumani and Susan are in place. Soon, the demon was subdued. As the demon came crashed down like a giant gorilla in slow motion, the demon wildly struck out at

anything he could grab and hit the helicopter that the mage Alastair Black is in. "Nooo." screamed at the sight of Alastair falling out of the helicopter. Kumani jumped

from the chimera, using one of her magical ability to glide, to reach Alastair. As soon as she reached the semi-conscious mage, she held on and murmured another

spell, instantly the flight spell gave her two majestic pairs of white wings. Then, the mage stirred awake. "Ku...Yuuki!" he mumble as he awaken from the shock of

being thrown out of the computer controlled helicopter. "Hey!" Kumani suddenly realized that the proximity of their body. "Wake up, sleeping beauty." said Kumani,

starting to blush. "Thank you for saving me." said the mage. "Don't thank me, yet!" said Kumani without batting an eye. "You're too heavy for me to maintain flight,

so we're just going to be doing is falling with style." As she mentioned it, they started falling with Kumani using both of her wings as brakes to ease their descent.

Soon they landed, with Kumani exhausting all her strength in maintaining both the flight and the flight spell for the first time. "We're safe.' said Kumani collapsing

from exhaustion. Alastair swept her up with grace unbeknownst to man of his stature. "I can stand, just put me down." said a flustered Kumani. "Shut up, Kumani."

said the master mage as he planted a fierce possesive kiss on her that made her weak all over again, for an entirely different reason.


End file.
